Georgetown University
Aaron R. Hanlon is a Visiting Assistant Professor with primary research and teaching interests in the 17th-18th centuries, from the emergence of the "New Philosophy" and 17th-century British science writing to the "rise" and development of the novel throughout the 18th century and across the Atlantic. His research focuses on how we organize knowledge, how the domains of reality and fiction interact in the novel, and how science writing and the novel mutually construct our ideas of what we know and how we know it.
Professor Hanlon is currently working on two book-length projects. The first, "The Politics of Quixotism," examines the proliferation of quixotic characters in British and American fiction (1612-1815) as part of a political history of exceptionalism, which both informs the history of "American exceptionalism" and locates an underexplored "British exceptionalism" of the long eighteenth century. The second, "Epistemological Rhetoric in England: 1600-1800," examines the rhetoric associated with "data," "fact," "knowledge," "truth," and other epistemological categories in science writing and the novel.
Hanlon's articles have appeared or are forthcoming in _New Literary History_, _The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation_, and _Studies in the Novel_, among others. He is also a contributor to Salon.com, where he covers topics related to his research and teaching, and to higher education more broadly.
Professor Hanlon's Spring ('15) courses include: "Rhetoric of 18th Century Poetry," "Restoration Drama," and "Intro. to Critical Theory."
http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/ah1132/
“They might be able to make savings just by asking faculty and staff to consider teaching one more class per semester,” Walker told reporters Wednesday in Madison. “Things like that could have a tremendous impact on making sure that we preserve an affordable education for all of our UW campuses, and at the same time we maintain a high-quality education.”....
....Walker reiterated that his proposal — which amounts to a 13 percent cut in state support for the state’s 13 four-year campuses and 13 two-year colleges plus another two-year tuition freeze — is effectively “Act 10 for the UW System,” a reference to the 2011 law that largely eliminated collective bargaining for most public employees.
He said concerns raised by university leaders about potential layoffs are the same complaints that school boards and superintendents made four years ago, when Walker made historic cuts to K-12 education. Those were largely absorbed by teachers and other K-12 staff paying more toward pension and health insurance premiums.
But Walker has argued the elimination of union contracts that dictated hiring and firing and other workplace rules has given school districts the flexibility to control their budgets more like a private business.".....
The more money we throw at education, the worse it gets. Maybe there is a connection.
Boy, Salon sure has their panties in a wad over Scott Walker, don’t they?
While I am not sure I would fire professors based on student recommendation surveys alone, I do think that its a useful criteria. And one that should force a review of the professor.
I also like the teaching mandate. There are lots of professors that get paid for being on staff but, don’t do anything. They just self promote and collect a check. This is pretty common. And even if these guys go on speaking tours or write books, that still does not really help the university.
But the point of this essay is all wrong. Politicians are not equivalent to professors. Universities exist to fill the public need of education. And professors are hired to fill that need. If they don’t then we need to get someone who is.
And don’t get me started on “research”...
Being a professor of rhetoric, Hanlon is certainly capable of using imagery to his advantage, just like Adolph Hitler. I’m not saying his use of imagery makes him a Nazi. On the other hand, we don’t know how many people he would kill if he had the opportunity. What we do know is this: He opposes holding professors accountable. Any attempt to hold professors would, in his words, “burn colleges to the ground.” To translate this into ordinary language, requiring professor to meet some kind of standard of interest to students and their sponsors, or else get an honest job, would result in him losing his job. This is simply an admission that he and his fellow elitists could not meet any such standard.
Sounds like really interesting stuff. Seriously, it does but then I’m a lit major. But the question is whether we can afford to pay for this stuff.
More leftist drivel from Salon.com.
Ho-hum.
Salon, MSNBC, Jim Cramer ... blowhards!
That 61 hours is based on a tiny sample and uses self-report information. I looked for more systematic and objective data but I am having a hard time finding it. There is a study on the faculty at UT at Austin that suggests the 61 hours is significantly inflated.
The problem is that research institutions are more interested in producing research that fits a political agenda of the government agencies that make the grants than they are in producing proveable, reliable research. It’s more about the money and the power than it is about teaching.
..and what does a researcher who would trade integrity for money and power have to teach young people, anyway?
People at Salon should learn to make their own paper. Maybe they’d learn to be more judicious about the value of brevity and class.
Else, they should publish in picture books.
The "we" that would have to pass that law is those very Representatives and Senators, it wouldn't pass. If it did, it would be struck down because it's unconstitutional.
Imagine what would happen if a-hole professors didn't have tenure.